MUTUAL ORGANIZATIONS, MUTUAL SOCIETIES Edith Archambault
MUTUAL ORGANIZATIONS, MUTUAL SOCIETIES Edith Archambault To cite this version: Edith Archambault. MUTUAL ORGANIZATIONS, MUTUAL SOCIETIES. Regina A. List, Helmut K. Anheier and Stefan Toepler. International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, 2nd edition, Springer, In press. halshs-02990281 HAL Id: halshs-02990281 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02990281 Submitted on 5 Nov 2020 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. MUTUAL ORGANIZATIONS, MUTUAL SOCIETIES By Edith Archambault, Centre d’économie de la Sorbonne Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne SYNONYM Mutuals KEY WORDS Mutual Benefit Societies Mutual Insurance Companies Social economy Demutualization Welfare state Democratic governance Solidarity between members Limited profit sharing DEFINITION According to a very large definition of the European Commission (mutual organizations/societies “are voluntary groups of persons (natural or legal) whose purpose is primarily to meet the needs of their members rather than achieve a return on investment”. This large definition includes self-help groups, friendly societies, cooperatives, mutual insurance companies, mutual benefit societies, credit unions, building societies, savings and loans associations, micro-credit, burial associations, Freemasons… (European Commission, 20 Hereafter, it is a more restricted definition that is used, relying on principles shared by most mutuals in Europe, the region where they are the most widespread.
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